Wiper Blade Striking Window Frame (1 Viewer)

[Recon Aircrew]

I have this issue where the top of the driver side wiper blade strikes the window frame of my 2013 LC creating a really loud “whack.” It’s probably normal for it to strike a little, but this seems excessive in terms of the amount of wiper striking and the force. I have a 22” wiper blade mounted.

The image shows the wiper at max contact.

Any thoughts?

 

[doru]

It is not normal to contact at all.

Assuming the blade does not have excessive play in the arm then the arm position on its axle is wrong. It is easy to remove the cover, unbolted, lift/pray it out of the axle and reposition it. When horizontal it should be parallel to the windshield visible edge right below it. Or use the mouldign edge as a guide:

A = 16.8 to 36.8 mm (0.661 to 1.45 in.)
Nut torque 18ft·lbf

 

[doru]

For an LX2013 the blade sizes are:

Driver 24"
Pass: 22"
Rear: 12" - surprisingly small. Can't use longer as it is hitting the spoiler

I do not know the sizes for LC.

 

[Norcal470]

My driver’s side does the same thing. Not that much rain in NorCal, but I’d be happy to know the solution.

 

[Recon Aircrew]

It is not normal to contact at all.

Assuming the blade does not have excessive play in the arm then the arm position on its axle is wrong. It is easy to remove the cover, unbolted, lift/pray it out of the axle and reposition it. When horizontal it should be parallel to the windshield visible edge right below it. Or use the mouldign edge as a guide:
View attachment 3175746
A = 16.8 to 36.8 mm (0.661 to 1.45 in.)
Nut torque 18ft·lbf

Thank you for the info. Does not look like the blade is fully horizontal in the resting position. I’ll try to reposition on axle and follow up.

 

[bloc]

Mine wasn’t hitting the frame but the passenger side wouldn’t park horizontally so it wasn’t on the de-icer strip and would freeze up in appropriate weather.

That taught me repositioning isn’t as easy as it sounds. The axle is knurled to avoid the arm slipping and the knurls form an imprint in the arm that it will tend to index back to, making fine adjustments impossible without removing the imprint first.

I used the knurls and the axle nut to remove that imprint.. required having the nut the correct tension (not tight but not totally loose either, just enough to cause interference but allow it to slip) and turning the arm back and forth, then used a box cutter blade to clean the removed aluminum out of the knurls. This makes the taper in the arm smooth again and allows you to put the arm where you need it before tightening. 18ft-lbf by the way.

Given all of this I don’t know how windshield installers get the arms in position to hit things.. if they had it off by a whole knurl things would be way out of whack. But mine were definitely not correct and now they are.

 

[AZCRSR]

Interesting. I noticed the same problem a couple of weeks ago. Not sure the cause.

 

[Recon Aircrew]

Mine wasn’t hitting the frame but the passenger side wouldn’t park horizontally so it wasn’t on the de-icer strip and would freeze up in appropriate weather.

That taught me repositioning isn’t as easy as it sounds. The axle is knurled to avoid the arm slipping and the knurls form an imprint in the arm that it will tend to index back to, making fine adjustments impossible without removing the imprint first.

I used the knurls and the axle nut to remove that imprint.. required having the nut the correct tension (not tight but not totally loose either, just enough to cause interference but allow it to slip) and turning the arm back and forth, then used a box cutter blade to clean the removed aluminum out of the knurls. This makes the taper in the arm smooth again and allows you to put the arm where you need it before tightening. 18ft-lbf by the way.

Given all of this I don’t know how windshield installers get the arms in position to hit things.. if they had it off by a whole knurl things would be way out of whack. But mine were definitely not correct and now they are.

Thanks for that. Sounds complex!

Here is how my driver wiper sits at rest. Partly on the defroster strip, and not horizontal. However, as can be seen simply dropping the arm down a notch or two will cause the bottom tip overlap the frame in the resting position.

Is it possible that the L & R arms were swapped during one of my many windshield replacements? Otherwise, it seems like a design flaw of the driver arm.

I think I will try a 1 inch shorter blade to at least mitigate the top contact problem.

 

[bloc]

Thanks for that. Sounds complex!

Here is how my driver wiper sits at rest. Partly on the defroster strip, and not horizontal. However, as can be seen simply dropping the arm down a notch or two will cause the bottom tip overlap the frame in the resting position.

Is it possible that the L & R arms were swapped during one of my many windshield replacements? Otherwise, it seems like a design flaw of the driver arm.

I think I will try a 1 inch shorter blade to at least mitigate the top contact problem.View attachment 3178414

Per toyota the arms have different part numbers so if they were swapped it seems like it should be obvious. And I don't have my truck with me so I can't go look to be sure, but that arm just doesn't seem right.. I agree though, that park position definitely isn't correct. It should end up parallel with the rubber strip at the top of the plastic cowl cover.

If you want to see whether there are numbers on your arms anywhere here they are
Driver's side wiper arm: 85221-60280
Passenger side: 85211-60260

Perhaps someone could post some pictures of their correct fitting arms to look for differences in shape.. I have a hunch that arm isn't correct. Also the cowl being sun faded but the arms appearing new seems odd..

 

[gaijin]

Perhaps someone could post some pictures of their correct fitting arms to look for differences in shape.. I have a hunch that arm isn't correct. Also the cowl being sun faded but the arms appearing new seems odd..

Copy that.

Here are a couple quick and dirty pics of what the arms at rest look like on my 2013 LC200 - they have been on the truck since new:

Driver Side - 85222-42110 600mm (23.62 inches):

Passenger Side - 85222-53071 550mm (21.65 inches):

All OEM Made in Japan.

HTH

Edit to add: My Driver side wiper blade does not come anywhere close to the window frame like in @Recon Aircrew 's pic.

 

[bloc]

Copy that.

Here are a couple quick and dirty pics of what the arms at rest look like on my 2013 LC200 - they have been on the truck since new:

Driver Side - 85222-42110 600mm (23.62 inches):

View attachment 3178521

Passenger Side - 85222-53071 550mm (21.65 inches):

View attachment 3178522

All OEM Made in Japan.

HTH

Edit to add: My Driver side wiper blade does not come anywhere close to the window frame like in @Recon Aircrew 's pic.

Ah yeah, I forgot to specify the above numbers were for a 2016.

Did you look up those 2013 numbers or find them on the arms somewhere?

 

[Recon Aircrew]

Problem solved! Upon very close inspection of the arms (comparing it to the drivers arm on our ‘16) I noticed that the the arm on the ‘13 was slightly bent (curved inward) in the area circled in the image. I took some pliers and straightened the arm in two places within the red circle (bent outward) and now it seems to sit perfectly at rest.

Really surprised how little I had to bend it to get it back into spec.

Sincere thanks to all here who provided input. It’s what I love about this forum. Great people!

 

[bloc]

Good work.. totally makes sense

 

[gaijin]

Did you look up those 2013 numbers or find them on the arms somewhere?

Numbers on the Toyota parts boxes that I purchased from my local dealer years ago, but have yet to need them.

Google search confirms they are for the Driver and Passenger sides respectively on 2008-2021 Land Cruisers.

Looks like the part numbers you posted are for the arms, my part numbers are for the blades. Sorry I did not make that clear in my previous post, but when I saw that @Recon Aircrew 's blades were obviously aftermarket, not Toyota OEM, I thought there might be some interest.

HTH